Sunday, October 14, 2007

Training + Stats

What a great result for Scotland yesterday! We beat Ukraine 3-1, with goals from Miller,McCulloch and McFadden.We'll probably still need to beat Georgia on Wed and get a point v Italy which is going to be tough but the team are flying just now so you never know...

After watching the game I decided to take the plunge and sign up for cardrunners.com.I chose cardrunners over Pfx mainly because first and foremost I'm a cash player and cardrunners seems more suited to ring games.I watched a couple of the vids and was keen to play some pokey, when my cable tv and internet went on the blink! Called cust services and was told it was a fault in my postcode area and it should be fixed within 24hours!

After failing to find a neighbours wireless connection to steal, I dug out my Play station 2, loaded up Medal of Honor and spent an enjoyable couple of hours doing my bit to save the free world from Nazi domination.When at last my services returned I logged on and began to wish it was still down...

I joined a $100nl 6 max table at 365 which had an average pot of $71.Very juicy and within a few hands I picked up QQ.A bet,a raise and I reckoned it was such a loose table that I probably had the best hand and shoved.Against one opponent and with a decent read that may be ok, but although one guy called of his stack with AQ ,the other had woken up with KK and my Nolan sisters went down in flames.( Mr KK turned out to be a real rock and if I'd been at the table longer I like to think I may have laid those Queens down)

I played a $16 turbo next at Stars and continued my recent habit of running into Aces when I pushed AKsooooted into 'em to crash out in 15th.( from 18)

Next up was Laddies and I stayed in my comfort zone and played $50 nl 6 max there.I was up a wee bit when I had my KK scudded by some muppet and his Q8.Maybe he knew the 8 was coming on the river after hitting his Queen on the flop and I'm the idiot!Why else would he call big bets on the flop and turn? I do wonder what ( if anything) hand he put me on.

The 365 loss isn't part of my main bankroll and the good news is that losing aprox $165 in one night didn't cause cold sweats and certainly wont affect my poker confidence.

Having said that, I'd been chatting to Rosie on the IM thing and ended up railing her all the way to 2nd place in a $5 mtt at Full Tilt. It was a great run ,though the winning villain sucked out on the last hand to deny Rosie 1st place and an extra $200.Still a $322 pay out for a $5 entry is a fine return on investment! Congrats again on a great finish Rosie!

Jumping back to the cardrunners sub and I almost feel it's paid for itself,even after watching only a couple of videos.( of pro's playing and talking through their moves)It is refreshing to watch vids aimed at players who have a bit of experience.Poker shows on tv are great but when you've been playing for three years ,the constant newbie guides ( "this is the button which means you are the dealer" etc) end up grating a bit.

The main thing I've picked up so far is...send me £61 and I'll tell you! Cheque in post? Ok,it's the art of four betting or restealing preflop at $100nl and above.Below $100nl at cash tables the concept of fold equity hardly seems relevant sometimes because it's Nofoldem Holdem and more often than not the villain will call you down.

I did enjoy Action Jeffs $27 turbo at Stars video.I recognised two of the players from my turbo exploits there and when Jeff flopped a set with AA against one villain ,he was sure the villain didn't have much.Jeff wasn't using any databases for research ( sharkscope etc) and to be fair he didn't know any of the players.I knew the villain in the hand was a big winner and I wasn't surprised when he showed a lower flopped set at showdown.( enjoyed the rant that followed too!)

Ok,I've had my rolls n sausage.Time to take Nacho up the road before hitting the tables.It's the Pokerstars World Blogger game at 8pm ,followed by the Bloggerment at 9pm.

Here are my latest updated stats.Only 17 days until the end of my 3rd year of online real money poker...

This excluded my "take a shot" Bet 365 roll, although I plan to withdraw it soon to buy a new laptop.( I will probably include it at end of the month to help get me to over $4k profit for the year,if I don't blow it!)

$70 profit over two weeks is mince but better than losing and it's quite pleasing that my Full Tilt cash out will not leave me needing to completely rebuild my roll before playing too much higher.

Actually 365 is so juicy I may add my account there to my bankroll and withdraw from Pokerroom.